Bloomberg Soda Ban Approved By Health Board

Our fellow Americans, the time has come to re-read your pocket Constitution, finally get that "Don't Tread on Me" tattoo you've been wanting, and start laying away stockpiles of sugar: the New York City Board of Health has given the OK to Mayor Bloomberg's ban on large sodas.

The ban itself makes it illegal for businesses to sell sweetened drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces, including sodas, energy drinks, and sweet tea. Juice is exempt, as are milk-based drinks, diet sodas (duh), and alcoholic drinks, and the rule only applies to businesses that get inspection grades from the health department. So that means 7-11s and most convenience stores are actually above this law, while movie theaters, stadium stands, and fast food restaurants all have to obey the ban.

Legally, this isn't a particularly slippery slope, since we've already curbed liberties like smoking in restaurants, parking in handicapped spots, and buying drugs (no matter the container size), but plenty of people think it's annoying, or at least in poor taste for a third-term mayor.

Really, though, it's not that big of a deal. The hardest-hit segments of the population are probably people who want to split a giant soda at the movie theater because it's cheaper and people who are actually hooked on soda. Things are going to be rough for the former, but the latter can still get their fix at a 7-11, or just walk around with a crazy straw sticking out of a 2-liter they got at the supermarket. For the rest of us, this just curbs the irrational drive to supersize your fast food soda, or get the 20 ounce instead of the can of Coke--more often than not, you just end up feeling sick after you inevitably drink it all, anyway. At least we do.

But hear this, Mayor Bloomberg: You can cut the size of our soda cups, but we swear to God, if you mandate that Ding Dongs can only come one to a pack, you'll have a riot on your hands.